Chapter Eight The Nixie

Chapter Eight

The Nixie

Samara

I waited for Lore at the entrance to Cardic's palace with the fox at my feet.

I worried about what lay ahead, both because of my brothers and because I was about to be isolated with Lore as we crossed the Enchanted Forest on an errand to free him from the curse of true love.

My fingers curled into fists. I clenched my jaw so tight, it hurt.

He was in love . He was in love, and he had tried to kiss me. At least I thought he had. I could still feel the press of his forehead against mine, the warmth of his breath on my lips.

I could still hear the way he said my name.

It shivered through me and then heated me up, and I was so angry.

Ladies do not get angry , I thought. Ladies do not get angry.

Usually, my mother's words would quell my emotions, because I would remember how her warnings about my behavior made me feel—ashamed and embarrassed—and while I felt that way now, it wasn't because of my anger.

It was because of Lore.

"Goodbye, beast," said Cardic as he came to stand beside me.

I jumped, so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't heard him approach.

He smiled at me, though it was teasing. "I'll keep your bed warm in case you get bored of Lore."

"I'm not sure your nun would approve of you offering beds to young women," said Lore.

I turned to look at the prince who had suddenly appeared behind me. He looked more composed than earlier and now carried a linen bag, the strap across his chest.

"Did you just say nun?" I asked.

"Ignore him," said Cardic, glaring at his brother. "He knows not what he speaks."

"I appreciate your offer, Cardic," I said, looking at him again. "I will keep it in mind."

I ignored the low rumble that escaped Lore's mouth as I walked ahead of him, following the fox across the terrace, down the palace steps and the spiraling bridge as it descended through the boughs of other oaks, ash, and yew.

None of us spoke, not even as we left Larkspur and entered the Enchanted Forest.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked Fox, trying to keep pace with him.

"We must continue through the forest and over the river until we find the witch of the wood," he said. "She has eyes everywhere and can tell us where the wishing tree will be."

"A witch?" I asked. "Are you certain a witch can be trusted?"

"It is not about trust, wild one," said the fox. "It is about the trade."

We continued, but I soon found it too difficult to keep up with Fox and fell behind, walking beside Lore. Our hands brushed, and I pulled mine away, blushing fiercely, though I wasn't sure why. I was frustrated with his closeness and how I couldn't stop feeling him. I knew he could walk faster than me and wondered why he wasn't.

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked.

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"You told my brother you would consider his offer of a warm bed."

The crunch of our footsteps filled the silence as we passed over fallen limbs and scattered acorns.

"Does it matter?" I asked.

"Yes, it matters," he said.

"I don't know if I meant it," I said. "But I appreciated the offer nevertheless."

"You know it wasn't out of kindness that he offered," said Lore. "He did it to fuck with me."

"I do not need a reminder that I am being used," I said, stopping to glare at him. "I understand perfectly well I am a pawn in everyone's game."

"That is not what I meant," he said.

"I don't care what you meant," I said. "You talk about your brother as if you are somehow different, but you are both the same."

Lore's features hardened. "Did I do something wrong?" He paused and then seemed to come to a realization. "What did Cardic tell you?"

"Nothing," I snapped, storming away.

"Samara!" Lore called after me, but I didn't stop. I continued forward, disappearing into the trees after the fox.

I had every intention of proceeding with my rampage, except that as I broke through the curtain of foliage, I couldn't move, and I found that the fox hadn't either. He sat, staring in horror at the same thing I was—dead animals dangling from the trees.

There were rabbits and deer, coyotes and boars, even foxes.

This was the work of my brothers.

"Samara, I—" Lore fell silent behind me. "What the fuck ."

Panic erupted inside me in seconds, and all at once, the world was closing in on me. Everything blurred together, and I lost my ability to breathe, though I tried desperately. I nearly collapsed, but then Lore was in front of me, his hand on my face.

"Look at me," he said. "Look at me and breathe."

I couldn't.

My chest felt paralyzed, my throat swollen.

"Samara," Lore said. Dropping his hand to my forearm, he rested his forehead against mine as he had done in the meadow beneath the elfin hill. "You are safe," he whispered.

I had been so angry with him before this, but I was too afraid to be angry now.

I closed my eyes and managed a shaky, shallow breath. Then Lore wrapped his arms around me tight, as if he thought he could keep my body still, and I rested my head against his chest. I could hear his heart beating, an easy thrum. I wondered how he could be so calm before such horror, but it was likely not the first time he'd seen something so terrible. I had certainly butchered animals before under the orders of my brother, but this…this was different.

After some time, my breaths matched Lore's, and I felt less unsteady on my feet.

"My brothers did this," I said as I pulled away from him.

"I guessed as much," said Lore.

"Cardic said they were ahead," I said. "What if they circle back? What if—"

"Samara," said Lore, leaning forward to kiss my forehead. His lips were warm, and they lingered as he spoke against my skin. "I will never let them harm you again."

Now my heart was racing for a different reason.

He pulled away and slipped his hand in mine.

"We cannot linger here," he said, pulling me along.

I dug in my heels. "We cannot leave them like this, Lore."

"If we stay, there is a greater chance they will find us."

"Lore," I whispered, desperate. "This will haunt me."

I was sure that was what my brothers intended.

Lore stared down at me, his gaze hard and his jaw set. After a few seconds, he turned to observe the animals. It was evident they had been here for some time, because their blood had ceased to drip. All of it pooled on the ground beneath them.

"We do not have time to bury them," he said.

"Then we will lay them in a line on the ground," I said. "It is better than where they hang now."

He studied me for a minute, and I wondered what he was thinking. Perhaps he was trying to decide if he could live with disappointing me.

I hoped he couldn't.

"The moment I hear so much as a twig break or a pebble roll, we depart," he said. "No matter who is left."

I nodded vigorously in agreement.

Lore turned, and I watched him climb up the nearest tree as if it were a ladder, arms braced around the trunk, his toes digging into the bark. When he reached the first bough, he pulled himself up and walked gracefully along its length like it was nothing but flat ground. He stopped when he reached the first animal, a rabbit that twisted this way and that. Lore knelt and drew a knife. As soon as the blade touched the rope, it was severed, reminding me of the knife I was given seven years ago—likely the very one Jackal had used to carry out this massacre.

With the rope cut, the rabbit fell, hitting the ground with a grotesque thud. I covered my mouth with my hand, unprepared for the sound or the additional horror of watching these animals abused in death.

I knew my brothers were cruel. They had often threatened to hurt Mouse and Rooster, but they usually took their anger out on me instead. Was this what happened when they couldn't?

My stomach revolted at the thought.

It wasn't until I tried to move the rabbit from where it landed that everything I'd eaten for breakfast came back up. I only made it a few steps before I vomited, my eyes blurry with tears.

This was horrible, and my brothers knew it.

They wanted me to feel responsible for each one of these deaths, and I did.

As I straightened, Lore handed me a waterskin.

"It's wine," he said. "But it will get the taste out."

I let the bitter drink flood my mouth before spitting it out, handing the container back to him.

"Perhaps you should pick some flowers," he suggested.

"I can do it," I said. "I want to help."

"Fox can move the bodies," he said.

I looked to see him already dragging the rabbit to the middle of the grove, and I felt my stomach revolt again.

Lore shuffled to the side to block my view.

"If we cannot bury them, at least they will have some kind of adornment," he said. "Flowers will help."

"Okay," I said.

"Don't go beyond the tree line," Lore warned. "And avoid the bell-shaped blooms. They are poisonous."

I nodded, and he returned to work. I tried to keep my back to him as I picked flowers, but I could still hear what was happening, and that was just as terrible.

When Lore was done and the bodies were lined up, he let me place the flowers on each rotting corpse. I did so with a knot in my throat, and when we were finished, we left without a word, continuing through the forest on our journey to a tree that did not exist.

I expected that we would travel late into the night, since the animals had taken most of our day, but when we came to a wide river, Lore stopped and began searching for a place to camp out of sight.

"Shouldn't we keep going?" I asked.

"Normally, I would say yes, but I am eager to bathe after handling dead flesh."

I swallowed, both at the mention of the animals and at the thought of Lore naked.

"You intend to bathe in the stream?" I asked.

He was bent at the waist, clearing leaves and branches from under an alcove of tree roots. He paused to look at me, amused. "Yes."

"Naked?"

"That tends to be how bathing works," he said. He was smiling more now.

I liked when he smiled. He almost looked like a different person.

"You should probably bathe too," he said.

My mouth dropped open. "Are you saying I smell?"

"No," Lore said.

"Yes," said the fox.

I glared at both of them. Lore glared at the fox.

"I am only telling the truth," Fox said as he sat with his tail curled around his feet. "If your brothers could not trace your tracks, they could follow your scent."

I turned away from them and sniffed myself, wrinkling my nose.

The fox was right. I needed a bath.

I wandered to the edge of the river. The shore was rocky, but the water was clear and grew darker toward the middle where it was deeper. I dipped my fingers into it and found that it was cool.

"Do not wade into the water alone," said the fox.

I jumped, not realizing he had wandered up beside me.

I looked at him, confused.

"Why not?"

"The fae are not relegated to land," he said. "Some of the most vicious reside in water."

His words sent a shiver down my spine. I pulled my hand out of the water and straightened. It should not surprise me that the water, which appeared so serene, would actually be infested with nefarious fae.

"Then how are we supposed to bathe?"

"They will not bother you while the Prince of Nightshade is near," said the fox.

I turned to look for Lore and found that he had pulled a blanket from the bag he had packed at Cardic's and was attempting to secure it on a branch near the riverbank.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am trying," he said, grunting as he struggled, "to give you…some privacy."

The blanket slipped and fell, half in the river and half on land.

"Fuck," Lore hissed.

I giggled as I went to him and picked the blanket up from the ground, wringing out the part that had landed in the water. I held it up by the corners and handed it to Lore.

"This will suffice," I said and started to remove my dress.

"I take it you've decided to bathe," he said from the other side of the blanket.

"I do not think I have a choice," I replied as I reached behind me to untie the laces at my back. I thought that they had been tied into a bow, but I found instead that they were in a tangle, and I had only made them worse. I dropped my chin to my chest, twisting both arms behind me, trying desperately to claw at the knot.

"Does it usually take you this long to undress?" asked Lore. "I am certain I could make quicker work of that dress."

"I do not want to hear about your conquests, Prince," I said, offering a frustrated growl.

Lore dropped the blanket.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"My arms are tired, and you are not naked," he said. "Turn."

I glared at him, and he tilted his head back, looking over my head with squinted eyes.

"Is that a fly?"

He swatted at it.

"There's another!"

I scowled at him. "Fine!"

I turned, giving him my back. I wasn't sure why this made me feel so exposed. Maybe because I was about to wade into a river completely naked in front of a man, and I had never done anything like it before.

Lore was the first man who had ever kissed me, and he hadn't even touched my lips.

I wonder if he knew.

He could probably guess, given his years of experience.

"Thank you," I said.

"For what?" Lore asked.

"For letting me rest," I said. "You did not have to make yourself miserable. I am used to sleeping on the ground."

"You needed real rest," he said. "We still have five days of travel."

We were silent. I could feel him fiddling with the laces.

"Where did you sleep last night?" I asked.

I tried to keep my voice light, but I wasn't sure I succeeded.

His hand stilled. "What?"

My face grew hot, and I couldn't decide if I should abandon this line of questioning or plow ahead.

"Where did you sleep last night?" I repeated.

"I didn't sleep," he said.

My brows lowered as I considered the implication. "Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said quickly, realizing how great a mistake this was. "I was just curious."

"Why are you curious about where I sleep?"

"I'm not," I said.

"But you just said you were curious about where I was last night," said Lore. "There must be a reason."

"There isn't," I said. "Have you finished? I thought you were adept at removing gowns."

"Samara."

I turned to face him, frustrated. "Because of the way you looked when you came into the library this morning."

He tilted his head to the side, the corner of his lips curved.

"And how did I look?"

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders at the same time. I think the reaction was more for me—a kind of surrender. It was too late to back out now.

"Like you had slept with someone," I said.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"I know what men look like the morning after sex."

My face was so hot I could barely stand it. I was going to have to jump in the river just to cool down. Perhaps I would also drown, and then I could escape this humiliation.

Surprise flitted across Lore's face before he grew rigid with anger. He took a step forward. "How would you know that?"

"Do not condescend," I said. "I am not ignorant."

"I have never for a moment thought you ignorant," said Lore. "So you think I spent the night with someone?"

I tilted my head back, holding his gaze.

"And that bothers you?"

My eyes widened. "No, of course not."

"Then why did you ask at all?"

"I told you I was curious," I said.

"So you are saying if I had slept with someone, you wouldn't care?"

"No, I wouldn't," I said.

He stared at me, smirking.

"I think you are a liar, Samara of Gnat."

"Don't call me a liar!" I said and shoved him.

He stumbled back and fell into the river. The only problem was that I also fell, slipping on the roots at my feet.

I was barely able to hold my breath as I hit the water. Lore's arm fastened around my waist as he righted us and pushed us to the surface. I coughed and spit water from my mouth as it ran out of my nose before I smoothed my hands over my face and through my hair.

I found Lore standing over me, and I couldn't look away.

I forgot how imposing he could be, but in this moment, there was no denying it. He towered over me. His tunic stuck to every muscle and made me realize just how broad his shoulders were. I wanted to touch him.

"You are most certainly a liar," he said, smoothing a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I closed my eyes at his touch, but it was not out of fear. A different emotion shuddered through me, and I swallowed hard before I looked at him again.

"Perhaps I am a liar," I said. "But what good comes from knowing the truth?"

Lore's finger trailed along my jaw to my chin. "I suppose that depends on how I feel about it."

"And how do you feel?"

He leaned close, his lips hovering so close to mine.

"I like it," he said. "I like it very much."

Then he kissed me.

It was soft, a slow press of his lips against mine, and when he broke away, his forehead rested against mine.

"And you?" he said, his voice a quiet whisper. "How do you feel about it?"

He pulled back to look into my eyes.

"I like it," I replied. "I like it very much."

Lore smiled and offered a breathless laugh.

His hand slipped into my hair as he kissed me again, longer this time. He shifted closer, our bodies flush. I let my hands move and twist into the fabric of his tunic. I didn't know what to hold on to or how to touch him. I hated that I was so aware of my inexperience when something this wonderful was happening, but I could not help feeling clumsy and awkward despite the heat surging through my body. I wondered if Lore could tell, if he thought I was terrible at this.

Then something changed, and Lore's arm tightened around my waist. He pulled me closer than before. His body was hard, and I gasped at the feel of him. I thought I'd felt desire before, but it was nothing compared to this. My body suddenly felt heavy, and I was desperate to be touched in places only I had explored.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. I wanted to be closer, even if it wasn't possible. The friction of his body provided a shred of relief as my breasts flattened against his chest and his arousal pressed against my stomach. I was no longer thinking about my inadequacies but how it would feel to have him inside me. I had never known such pleasure, and I had only dreamed of it with one person—the fae who had offered me a knife.

But all those feelings were ripped away from me as Lore abruptly ended the kiss and tore away from me. He took a few steps back, breathing hard.

"I'm sorry," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.

"Why?" he asked.

My eyes widened. I didn't really know why.

"I…didn't mean for this to happen," I said.

Lore's brows lowered. "What do you mean? You said you liked it."

"I did," I said. "I do . You're the one who stopped."

Now that I had distance from him, the cold reality of why he had stopped settled in. I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling exposed and terribly embarrassed.

"Why did you stop?"

"I had to," he said.

"Because you are in love?" I asked.

Surprise flitted across his face. "What?"

"Cardic told me," I said. "You are in love, and you think you are cursed."

"I am cursed," Lore snapped. "You do not know how I have suffered. This yearning…it has torn me apart."

"Yet you touched me," I said, my voice taking on a tone I didn't recognize. "You kissed me ."

He just stared at me. I wanted him to feel as embarrassed as I did now that he knew I was aware of his secret, but instead, I thought he looked devastated, which I found even more infuriating.

"You aren't cursed, Lore, Prince of Nightshade," I said. "You are a coward."

I turned and climbed out of the river, using the half-drenched blanket to cover myself, trying hard to subdue the pressure building behind my eyes as I realized that my brothers were right.

No man would ever want someone like me.

Cold and wet, I curled up near the fox on the pallet Lore had made beneath the roots as quiet tears streamed down my face, and I eventually fell asleep.

* * *

I woke suddenly to the sound of music.

It was an airy melody, beautiful but haunting. I rolled onto my side and gazed out at the night, but there was nothing near as far as I could tell, save moonlight bouncing off the rippling river. I sat up and listened harder, realizing that someone was also singing.

There once was a girl with brambles in her hair.

Beauty they called her, she was so fair.

But she danced to music no one could hear,

Wounding her feet, which were small and bare.

I rose and followed the sound, my own bare feet sliding over stone as if it were nothing more than sand. I wandered down the river's edge, past large trees and small trees and shrubs with flowers so white, they seemed to glow in the night. The singing grew louder as I neared, and the foliage became denser. I was forced to elbow my way through thick shoots of green while the ground grew softer at my feet.

From quiet village to mountains gray,

Beneath starry sky and burning day.

The grass grew green where she bled,

And fairies followed where she led.

She danced until she wished to die

And came to a place where spirits lie.

Beneath that barren ground, there lay

Witches' bones and evil fae.

Soon a handsome prince walked along,

Drawn by the elves' silvery song.

So smitten was he with the dancing maid,

He promised to save her and drew his blade.

But when his feet brushed barren ground,

He began to spin and dance around.

The fairies clapped, their laughter rang,

Their voices rose, and they sang—

Finally, I pushed aside a curtain of greenery to spy the source of the singing. Two women sat on rocks in the middle of the river. One played a flute while the other sang and brushed her long yellow hair. They were lovely, dressed in white, and beneath the moon, they too seemed to glow.

The woman with the brush turned her head toward me and smiled, beckoning. She had strange features—large, round eyes and glittering scales on her temples. I thought that perhaps she was half human, but I was not afraid. I waded through the water toward them as she finished her song.

There once was a girl with thorns in her hair,

Who danced to music no one could hear.

And when a prince came along,

He swore to save her, but he was wrong.

They danced until their hearts gave out

And died upon the barren ground.

She paused and turned to the other woman.

"Look, Elke, we have brought our own beauty here," she said. "Perhaps we can make her dance." She turned her pale eyes to me. They were yellow in color and flickered like lantern lights. "Do you dance, beauty?"

I shook my head.

"Do not worry, beauty. We will teach you," she said. Slipping off the rock, she entered the water with me and brought her hand up to my face but did not touch me. "Beautiful," she said, and then she circled me, and I followed. The woman smiled. "Now we are dancing, beauty."

Then she took my hands and held them aloft, stepping into the left side of my body and then the right. I followed, unable to look away from her face. She was so beautiful, and her smile was so sweet.

"You are dancing, beauty," she said, leading me around in a circle, and then she let go of one of my hands. "Twirl."

I did as she commanded.

"Beautiful," she said when I faced her again, continuing to smile.

I smiled too.

"What…what are you?" I asked, spinning again at her direction.

The woman laughed, and it sounded like chimes. "Why, I am a nixie, and so is my sister," she said. "This river is our home."

"I do not have a home," I told her. "Well…not anymore."

"Poor beautiful creature," she said with a frown. "Elke and I will take you. Would you like that, beauty?"

Before I could answer, there was a terrible scream, and I looked to see the other nixie, who had been sitting on the rock, playing her flute, fall back into the water, a knife lodged in her eye socket. Then the woman in front of me hissed. My eyes connected with hers as she changed before my eyes, her teeth growing sharp and her hands webbed as she gripped my wrists.

"Mine!" she growled.

I screamed.

"Samara!"

Lore bellowed my name just as the creature yanked me into the water. I fought with her, clawing at her face as her hands fastened around my throat. Then suddenly, she was off me, and I was able to rise to my feet, choking on water as I gasped for breath and Lore fought with the monster.

"The comb, wild one!" said the fox. "Throw the comb!"

The comb? I had forgotten about the comb. I could feel it in my hair, and though I had no idea how it might help, I obeyed the fox's orders, but it was so badly tangled, I couldn't get it free. I tore at the wet strands while Lore grappled with the snarling creature before me, but even he struggled. She was slippery and wet, but her grip was strong, and soon she was able to throw the Prince of Nightshade off with a guttural scream and dive into the water toward me.

Panic filled me as I yanked at the comb, ripping hair from my head in painful clumps. Finally, it tore free just as the monster broke the surface of the water and launched itself at me.

I threw the comb, and when it hit the water, it turned into a thousand spears. The nixie's glowing eyes widened, and she kicked her arms and feet as if she wished to swim away, but it was too late. She gave a short, high-pitched cry before she was impaled on the sharp spikes, and then there was silence, save for the sound of her blood dripping into the water.

In an instant, Lore was beside me, his hand on my face.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, but I really couldn't think, and I didn't answer him.

Instead, I turned to look at the nixie again, who was bent in half, a hundred spears piercing her body. Before, she had seemed to glow beneath the moonlight, but now her skin was dull, and her hair fell over her face in a cascade of yellow.

"Cut off the nixie's hair," said the fox. "And it will turn to gold."

I looked at the fox and then left Lore's side, wading to the nixie with the knife in her eye and pulled it free.

"Samara?"

I ignored Lore and went to the nixie with the yellow hair, took it into my hand, and cut it with his blade. As soon as the hairs were severed, they became glimmering, golden thread. I turned to Lore with his knife in one hand and the gold in the other.

"I'm fine," I answered, even though I was not, and gave him the knife.

I climbed out of the river and followed Fox back to camp.